Welcome, fellow Travelers, to the world of Teyvat! If you’ve been exploring for a while, you know that leveling up your characters is a core part of your Genshin Impact journey. You’ve gathered Mystic Enhancement Ores, sourced those tricky Talent Books, and maybe even pulled for constellations. But there’s one upgrade that feels different, almost sacred: the Crown of Insight.

This shimmering, golden item is the key to unlocking your character’s absolute potential—Level 10 Talents. It's rare, it’s precious, and frankly, it can cause a serious case of analysis paralysis. Should you use it on your main DPS, your favorite support, or save it forever just in case a new meta shifts?

Fear not! This comprehensive Genshin Guide will break down everything you need to know about the Crown of Insight: what it is, how to get it, and most importantly, the strategic criteria for using this extremely valuable resource wisely.

What Exactly is the Crown of Insight?

The Crown of Insight is the rarest non-weapon, non-character upgrade material in the game. It is specifically required to ascend a character’s Talent from Level 9 to Level 10 (Max Level).

Think of it as the final, crowning glory for your favorite character’s skillset. While Levels 1 through 8 require standard Talent Books and Mora, and Level 9 requires a drop from a high-level Weekly Boss (like Azhdaha or Dvalin), Level 10 is locked behind the Crown.

It’s a clear signal from miHoYo (HoYoverse) that they intend for certain skills to be absolutely top-tier, but they want to gate this ultimate upgrade carefully due to the item's scarcity.

How Many Crowns of Insight Do You Actually Get?

This is the million-dollar question. Unlike standard resources which refresh daily or weekly, Crowns of Insight are limited event rewards.

Historically, a new Crown of Insight has been released approximately every 4-5 major version updates (e.g., Version 1.x, 2.x, 3.x).

Initial Release: The very first Crown was given out during the first major event in Version 1.1, "Unreconciled Stars." Subsequent Events: Newer Crowns are tied to major limited-time events (like the Lantern Rite festival, Windblume Festival, or specific story-related events).

As of the latest major version releases, most dedicated players who participated in every major event since 1.0 generally have access to 5 or 6 Crowns of Insight.

Crucial Note: If you missed a major event in the past, there is no current way to obtain the Crowns distributed during that event. This underlines why careful usage is paramount.

Where Do Crowns of Insight Come From? The Event Grind

The only reliable source for Crowns of Insight is participating fully in the major recurring seasonal events.

1. Participate Fully: You must complete all stages, challenges, and often the cumulative point goals of the main event structure.
2. Event Shop Redemption: Once the required points are hit, the Crown of Insight usually becomes available for purchase in the corresponding Event Shop for a fixed amount of event currency (usually 400-600 tokens).

The Lesson: If you want more Crowns, you must commit significant time during these limited-time events. Missing an event means potentially missing the next Crown.

The Level 10 Talent Dilemma: When is a Crown Worth It?

This is where strategy comes in. Spending a Crown of Insight is an investment. You should only spend it on talents that provide significant, tangible benefits upon reaching Level 10.

Here is a structured way to evaluate whether a talent deserves that golden crown:

Tier 1: Immediate and Essential Use (The "No-Brainers")

These are talents where the Level 10 boost provides an undeniable, massive increase to damage, healing, or utility, and the talent is used constantly.

1. Main DPS Burst/Skill (The Heavy Hitters)

If your primary on-field damage dealer relies heavily on a specific Elemental Skill or Elemental Burst for their main damage source, crowning that ability is often worth it.

Example: Hu Tao’s Elemental Skill (Guide to Afterlife), or Raiden Shogun’s Elemental Burst (Secret Art: Musou Shinsetsu). The percentage multipliers jump significantly from Level 9 to 10, which translates directly into massive damage increases over the course of a fight.

1. Essential Supports with Scaling Buffs

Supports whose core function scales directly with their talent level provide tremendous value across your entire team.

Example: Bennett’s Elemental Burst (Fantastic Voyage). A higher level means a higher flat ATK bonus for the entire team, which multiplies everyone’s damage output significantly. Similarly, high-level buffs from characters like Kazuha’s A4 passive (when linked to talent levels) or Shenhe's Skill are fantastic investments.

1. Powerful On-Field Utility Skills

Characters whose skills are constantly active and whose scaling is potent deserve consideration.

Example: Yae Miko's Sesshou Sakura activation damage. If you are running a quick-swap or on-field Electro DPS build, maximizing her strike damage is crucial.

Tier 2: High Value, Situational Use (Consider Carefully)

These talents are excellent but might only be prioritized after your Tier 1 options are complete, or if you heavily favor a specific niche build.

1. Elemental Bursts for Off-Field Sub-DPS

If a character spends little time on the field but their Burst is a major source of passive damage (e.g., Xiangling’s Pyronado, Xingqiu’s Rain Swords), leveling the Burst is critical.

The Caveat: Often, Level 9 on these Bursts is already phenomenal. You must check the specific damage scaling difference between 9 and 10. If the difference is marginal (e.g., less than 5-8% damage increase), you might delay the Crown.

1. Key Defensive/Healing Talents

Characters whose primary role is healing or shielding often see small returns on a Crown of Insight, unless their base output is already struggling.

Example: A healer like Kokomi or Jean. While a slightly larger shield or a bit more healing is nice, it rarely offers the immediate, game-changing DPS boost that a DPS talent does. Only crown these if you have spare Crowns or are struggling significantly with survivability despite good artifacts.

Tier 3: Low Priority (Save the Crown)

These talents provide very little benefit from Level 9 to 10, or the character is rarely used in endgame content.

1. Talents with No Direct Scaling Benefit

Some talents increase in minor ways that don't directly impact damage or healing multipliers.

Example: Sometimes, the primary benefit of a Level 10 talent is just a slight reduction in cooldown or energy cost, which is negligible compared to the massive Mora and material cost required to get there.

1. Talents for Niche or Underperforming Characters

If you have a character who is not currently viable in your Spiral Abyss teams or complex overworld challenges, save the Crown. The meta shifts rapidly in Teyvat. A character you use today might be benched next patch.

The "Rule of Thumb" for Crown Usage

If you are ever stuck between two characters, use this simple heuristic:

Crown the Talent that is used the most frequently and has the highest proportional damage/utility multiplier increase when moving from Level 9 to Level 10.

For 99% of players, this means focusing on their main DPS’s Elemental Burst or Elemental Skill, followed closely by crucial supports like Bennett.

Case Studies: Who Deserves the Crown? (Examples)

To make this concrete, here are examples of characters where using a Crown of Insight is generally considered an excellent investment:

| Character | Talent to Crown (L9 -> L10) | Rationale | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Hu Tao | Elemental Skill (Guide to Afterlife) | Massive flat ATK conversion scales directly with her sustained on-field DPS output. | | Raiden Shogun | Elemental Burst (Musou Shinsetsu) | Her primary damage phase is entirely dictated by this talent level. Huge multiplier spike. | | Bennett | Elemental Burst (Fantastic Voyage) | Increases the flat ATK bonus given to the entire team, a powerful universal buff. | | Ayaka | Elemental Burst (Kamisato Art: Soumetsu) | The multi-hits scale exceptionally well, especially in Freeze teams where the Burst can hit many times. | | Nahida | Elemental Skill (All Schemes to Know) | Her on-field Skill damage and the enhancement bonus to off-field reactions scale heavily with this talent. | | Alhaitham | Elemental Skill (Chisel-Light Mirror State) | His primary damage source when driving Dendro reactions relies on maximizing the conversion from his Skill stacks. |

Conversely, characters whose primary contribution is passive (like a simple shield from Zhongli’s Skill, which is already nearly maxed at L6/L8) often don't warrant the final investment unless you have Crowns to spare.

Artifacts vs. Talents: Where to Spend Your Resources First?

If you are still early to mid-game, you must prioritize Artifacts over Level 10 Talents.

The General Resource Priority List:

1. Weapon Leveling (to 90): A Level 90 weapon provides far greater overall stat improvement than pushing a single talent from 9 to 10.
2. Character Leveling (to 90, if necessary): For characters whose damage scales off HP, DEF, or ATK, hitting Level 90 provides a base stat boost that affects all talents.
3. Talent Level 8 or 9: Reaching Level 8 is relatively inexpensive. Hitting Level 9 requires a Weekly Boss material, which is a worthwhile bottleneck.
4. Crown of Insight (Level 10): Reserve this for your absolute favorite, most consistent endgame performers only after the above steps are mostly complete.

A Level 9 Talent on a perfectly artifacted character will almost always outperform a Level 10 Talent on a poorly built character.

The Psychological Aspect: Does It Feel Better?

Let’s be honest: Genshin Impact is also about enjoyment. Sometimes, you just love a character so much that you want them to be perfect, regardless of meta analysis.

If using a Crown on your favorite character brings you genuine joy and makes clearing content feel easier and more satisfying, then perhaps the "wasted" Crown is actually a worthwhile investment in your personal enjoyment of the game. HoYoverse designs these characters to be loved, and sometimes love trumps efficiency.

However, for those striving for the fastest Spiral Abyss clears, stick to the Tier 1 guidelines.

Future-Proofing Your Crowns

Since new Crowns are only released through limited-time events, you cannot rely on future content to provide a backlog. This means:

1. Do Not Hoard Indefinitely: If you have 6 Crowns and no one is using them, you are essentially wasting the potential benefit they could be giving your current main team. The meta today is what matters for your Spiral Abyss runs.
2. Assess New Releases: When a powerful new character drops, evaluate their kit against your current crowned characters. If the new character’s main damage source shows a statistically superior return on investment from L9 to L10 compared to an existing L9 talent, consider them next.

Conclusion: Crown Wisely, Traveler

The Crown of Insight is the pinnacle of character customization in Genshin Impact. It represents dedication, resource management, and a clear understanding of who your main powerhouses are.

Use this rare item not just because you can, but because the specific talent level jump provides a quantifiable, necessary boost to your most important combat rotations. Stick to crowning essential DPS abilities and crucial support buffers, and you'll ensure every golden glimmer brings maximum impact to your adventures across Teyvat. Happy adventuring! Home page: https://genshin.guide/